Manufacturing was in Holland but it is more than possible that this has now been outsourced to other parts of the Sakura Group of companies.

The Bruynzeel Design range includes a wax based colour pencil, an Aquarelle and a pastel pencil each type in a range of 48 colours presented in a high quality wooden based drawer box.

I have done a first test with the dry point wax pencils, marketed as Design ‘Colour’.

The wax content made a direct comparison with Derwent Coloursoft possible as both are wax based, soft to the feel and have a smaller colour range ( 48 - Bruynzeel & 72 Coloursoft ) than the Faber Castell or Caran d’Ache brands ( 120 ) - the latter two being oil based.

Working on my usual Daler Rowney Langton Botanical HP paper, 20 layers of the Bruynzeel in mixed colours were possible.

The final surface took to burnishing well with the Bruynzeel white and also with a Lyra Splender blender.

The feel of the pencils was smooth on the paper - and in fact smoother than the Coloursoft which tended to drag in the early layers.

This lack of drag in the Bruynzeel is fine if you are working with carefully laid down, thin layers of colour.

On a dark blue paper, the result on a cross section of colours, was as good as the Coloursoft though not as good as Caran d’Ache Pablo or Polychromos

I found the 48 colour range a very workable set, with a choice of 5 good greens, 7 useful browns, 6 blues and a higher than average range of reds for a set of this size, there are also a higher than expected collection of yellows and oranges. There are 5 whites and greys and a black and white. A very useful cross section of colours.

The drawer arrangement looks good but I am not sure how practical it will prove in the long term and the boxes take up much more room for storage than an equivalent set of 48 in a tin. A nice gift to give however.

See the colour range in the Penciltopics chart linked to this page which enables you to compare colours across a range of brands.

NOTE below - the pencils are numbered but not colour named.

ODDLY it is very difficult to get a colour chart from the manufacturers and no chart is supplied with the boxes.

The pencils are numbered but do not have a colour name, and the colour painted at the end of the pencil is not really accurate enough for foolproof use. I suggest that you do your own chart and keep it with your pencils so that you have a reliable reference.

Update September 1st 2010 I now have the full colour chart of this range of pencils, and the numbers do relate to named colours. I have not updated the chart as yet, but I do give the number/colour details at the foot of this page

The Aquarelle colours match the dry point set. I found that whilst the dry pencils sharpened well in a desktop power sharpener with a helical blade ( Jakar 5151 model ), the aqua pencils were much softer and broke more easily. The fine point was also quickly lost as soon as it was applied to the paper. Handling on the paper was again less ‘grippy’ than the Derwent Watercolour pencils I compared them with and this resulted in a lower rate of colour lay down. Application of clean water with a Prolene watercolour brush showed the softening and lifting of colour comparable across the two brands. I have not yet done a full colour swatch across the Bruynzeel range to see if water results in a change in colour from dry pigment, but the usual lift in colour intensity when wet was noted. This is common to all Aquarelle brands. On a dark coloured paper, the aqua white was not as opaque dry as the dry point version.

I have tested the Pastel pencils ( slightly different 48 colour range - see below) and found them very smooth to lay down colour and they blended well on the paper. They are quite robust and will take sharpening in a power sharpener although I wouldn’t recommend it.

A knife is always the best approach and less damaging on the pastel core

Overall I find them good pencils to handle with a good choice of colours for a relatively restricted set of 48.

Bruynzeel Fullcolor pencils were a brand marketed in to the USA in a range of 50 colours and were listed as ‘lightfast’

I understand that these are now being/have been withdrawn from the market.

I have, as yet, no information on the lightfast rating of the Bruynzeel ‘Design’ range of pencils - though I suggest care be taken over pinks and purples particularly in the paler shades in bright light environments unless specific ratings are known.

When I have more information and have had a chance to do further tests I will refresh this page

The Colour range of the Bruynzeel Design sets of 48 pencils are shown in the sample chart taken from the wax pencils in the range.